More articles about: long reads

For the residents of Lupang Ramos in Dasmariñas, Cavite, 372 hectares of agricultural land hold 30 years of struggle for agrarian reform.

The side road leading off Governor’s Drive in Dasmariñas, Cavite is lined with streamers with messages such as “Tunay na Reporma sa Lupa, Ipaglaban” and “Activism is not Terrorism.” At its entrance is a makeshift barrier made out of bamboo, some rope, ...

Continuing the principled politics of his grandfather and father, Erin Tañada makes a case for updating endo laws, encouraging the return to agriculture, and learning from the youth, who, he says, are the catalysts for shaping politics.

Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III, though from a family of politicians, hardly fits the stereotype. During our Esquire interview at his childhood home, the only people around are his wife, Ria, his parents, his son, and a nephew. No other staffers or assistants.This ...

The first time I met Olivia d’Aboville, we were standing beside a man with a painted face who was being buried in the ground up to his neck. It was at Mount Malasimbo and the man was a performance artist who called ...

The legendary actor-director on women, money, discipline, and playing the villain.

EDDIE GARCIA89, actor and filmmakerI started in 1949, after I got discharged from the Philippine Scouts in the U.S. Army. I was stationed in Okinawa for three years, as [part of the] occupational troops. In 1949, the Philippine Scouts were disbanded by President Quirino. ...

As the head of Called to Rescue Philippines, media man and motivational speaker Anthony Pangilinan makes the right calls and builds bridges in an effort to fight back against human trafficking in the heart of one of its hotbeds.

If there's anything we've learned from the past three-or-so years and how they've forced us to reckon with the effects of social media, it's that the world is a sick place. Now that humans are more connected to each other than ever before, we're ...

Thorn of presidents and street-smart parliamentarian, Joker Arroyo looks back at a career as a human rights lawyer turned accidental politician.

Joker Arroyo professes no interest in penning his autobiography. Memoirs, to him, are just an attempt to revise history. His colleagues in politics may disagree, but then, Joker Arroyo would have little interest in reading what their memoirs might have to say ...

Revisit Patricia Evangelista's "The Darkness of Fear" from Esquire's May 2012 issue.

On December 20, 2011, five years after University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño were abducted from Hagonoy, Bulacan, the Bulacan courts released a warrant for the arrest of retired Major General Jovito Palparan Jr. The former party list ...

The story of Pete Lacaba's "Prometheus Unbound", a poem in which the first letters of each line, when read downwards, spelled out a secret message for the resistance movement against the dictator.

One version of this story has us begin in 1973, a year after Proclamation 1081 was announced, placing the entire country under martial law, to the relief of citizens desperate for discipline. Crime was on the wane; peace was prime. Manila mornings ...

As long as you know the right hashtags, child pornography is just a few clicks or taps away on Twitter. Here, evil does not even bother to hide. It’s not just a dark corner of the web anymore—the Philippines’ child sexual exploitation crisis is right at your doorstep.

Social media brings the world to your doorstep. This is an age of easy access to everything, and unfortunately, this also means that society’s monsters are in closer proximity to normal life than ever.Weeks ago, a Filipino Redditor posted about an extremely alarming ...

Khavn De La Cruz’s film is based on the real life history of Samar at the turn of the century.

Award-winning indie filmmaker Khavn De La Cruz is no stranger to counter-culture and controversy. Some of his previous films, including Mondomanila and Squatterpunk, show a side of the Philippines and Filipino culture that mainstream cinema rarely shows. His latest film, Balangiga: Howling ...

The star of Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral on becoming the complex historical figure.

We may never fully know all the ways in which Jerrold Tarog’s Heneral Luna affected the Philippines after it hit cinemas in 2015, but we know enough to say it was a revolution. We know that it raked in at least P256 ...

Marty Syjuco and Michael Collins on justice, Jacqueline Comes Home, and their new film Almost Sunrise.

Paco Larrañaga's fight for justice has hit its second wind. Last month, following the release of Ysabelle Peach Caparas' Jacqueline Comes Home, public attention to the controversial case of the Chiong Sisters' murder was renewed. With it came a new audience for Give Up Tomorrow—the 2011 documentary that originally showed ...

Glaiza de Castro plays Ma. Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, whose son made Liway in his mother's honor.

At this year's Cinemalaya—which runs until Sunday, August 12—Kip Oebanda's Liway has been a frontrunner and favorite. It received a standing ovation at its gala night at the Cultural Center of The Philippines, and impressions on Twitter put it way ahead of its pack. And one ...

From the archives: A 2011 interview with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO71, former President of The PhilippinesI don’t give unsolicited advice. But for those who care to know, let me share some of my experience.Some crises can be foreseen. In that case, the most important is to monitor the unfolding developments and prior ...

It is ironic—and perhaps unthinkable— that Vicente Yap Sotto, the grandfather of the present-day Sen. Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, is the author of the Press Freedom Law and a rebel senator who fought against America using his pen. Yet, he is. Sotto the ...

Just as we are inexplicably drawn to certain people, whom we end up loving forever, I have been inexplicably drawn to Islam, a way of life to which I’ve surrendered now and will embrace forever. There’s so much about this lifeway that moves ...

To a group of Filipinos who live at the foot of Mt. Makiling, the nation's hero is also a very peculiar deity.

To the rest of us, the Independence Day celebrations are a reminder of Dr. Jose Rizal's greatest achievement: rekindling the spirit of nationalism in a people long stripped of dignity after centuries of invasion and colonization. To a small group of Filipinos, however, Rizal’s greatness transcends even ...

The former Sugarfree frontman on mental health, the beauty of the Filipino language, and becoming a musician of substance.

EBE DANCEL42, musician.Sometimes I get letters from aspiring songwriters, and ang common question nila is, “How can I write a song that people will relate to?” That in itself is already your downfall. Unless you’ve teamed up with an agency to write ...

At fifty years old, Mayor Herbert Bautista has managed to turn himself from a comical sidekick and unlikely hearththrob to a serious politician. In this exclusive excerpt from his new biography, we follow the arc of his early showbiz career from skinny underdog to a real box-office draw.

See him: The small skinny kid rubbing his eyes. Sometimes he wears glasses, sometimes he doesn’t. Doesn’t matter. He looks like a nerd with and without. He looks like he could be picked on by bullies. But he also looks like he ...

National Artist for Literature Cirilo F. Bautista passed away early yesterday, May 6, at the age of 76. He is fondly remembered as one of this generation's literary greats, whose works were expressive of the Filipino experience. Esquire was lucky to have ...